You are here

Did You Know?

Interesting facts about India.

History

India is the world's largest, oldest, continuous civilization

Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth.

India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.

India is the world's largest democracy.

The four religions born in India, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, are followed by 25% of the world's population

Chess (Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.

Varanasi, also known as Benares, was called "the ancient city" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 B.C.E, and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.

The art of Navigation was born in the river Sindh 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word NAVGATIH. The word navy is also derived from Sanskrit 'Nou'.

Medicine

Sushruta is the father of surgery. 2600 years ago he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipment were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.

Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to humans. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining its rightful place in our civilization.

Math

The value of "pi" was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematician.

India invented the Number System. Zero was invented by Aryabhatta.

Bhaskaracharya calculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days.

Academic

The World's first university was established in Takshashila in 700 BCE. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University of Nalanda built in the 4th century BCE was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.

Grammar constitutes one of India's greatest contributions to Western philology. Panini, the Sanskrit grammarian, who lived between 750 and 500 BCE, was the first to compose formal grammar through his Astadhyai.